EDAMA Association for Energy, Water & Environment organized a Power Breakfast on "Supporting economic resilience in Jordan through private sector investment: European Investment Bank's Financial products" on Tuesday 14 March 2017 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman. 

The Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Imad Fakhoury, the Vice President of the European Investment Bank, Dario Scannapieco, and the EU Ambassador to Jordan, Andrea Fontana participated in a panel discussion moderated by Dr Yusuf Mansour during the event which was attended by more than 100 representatives of the public and private sectors, as well as the financial sector in Jordan. 

The Chairman of EDAMA, Dr. Dureid Mahasneh, welcomed all participants and stressed the importance of finance as a key element to support Jordan in its efforts to face economic challenges, especially in the infrastructure and mega projects aspect, as well as to reinforce private sector's ability to develop and adopt green technology and best industrial practices. 

In his welcome speech, the Vice president of the EIB said, "As the EU Bank, we seek to improve people's lives by providing finance and expertise for projects supporting innovation, SMEs, infrastructure and climate action. Today, I am pleased to be here in Amman to reinforce our established solid relations with both public and private sector actors and to strengthen the links between EIB staff and our counterparts in Jordan. Together, with our joint efforts, necessary projects can be implemented to improve the economic resilience of the Jordanian economy." 

During the event, the director of operations in the Neighborhood Countries, Heinz Olbers and senior staff of the EIB presented the Bank's different financial products available to both private and public sectors in Jordan. The financial products include: direct loans to large corporates or to special purpose companies for project finance, credit lines to local banks destined to be on-lent to SMEs, and equity investments in investment funds and loans to microfinance institutions. In addition, the EIB also finances large infrastructure projects in sectors such as transport, energy, water, etc". In addition, they presented the EIB's new Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) which forms part of the joined up response by the European Union to the challenges posed by forced displacement and migration, and will be implemented in close cooperation with EU member states and other partners. The ERI initiative will bring extra EIB support to Jordan, as well as other neighboring countries of the European Union. 

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is one of the leading development finance players in the Mediterranean region. The Bank's goal is to support economic and social development by improving people's living conditions. The EIB aims to establish a tangible presence in the EU neighbourhood countries, focusing on the economic and social priorities of the beneficiary countries to which it not only contributes its financing capacity but also adds value in project implementation and modernisation of public policies through its technical and financial expertise and advisory services. 

Since starting its activities in Jordan in 1978, the EIB has provided total financing of over EUR 1 billion to support key economic and social sectors; water , energy, industry, transport and education sectors. The EIB's aim has been to deploy its resources to provide an appropriate practical response to the expectations expressed by Jordanian people. 

EDAMA Association is a Jordanian nonprofit business association established in 2009 to advance Jordan's movement towards a green economy via creating a vibrant new economic sector of energy businesses, driving applied research, developing and commercializing Jordanian technologies, building public awareness and advocating for policies that will make Jordan a model of energy efficiency, water conservation and environmental stewardship. In addition, EDAMA Association offers a platform for a large number of public, private and NGO sector representatives to discuss the future development of the Energy, Water and Environment sectors in Jordan with particular emphasis on renewable energy.

Source :NNA